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For India's first solar observatory, 2026 is expected to be like no other.

It's the first time the observatory – that entered in orbit recently – will be able to observe our star during its maximum activity cycle.

According to scientific data, it comes approximately every 11 years as the Sun's polarity reverses – the Earth equivalent would be the North and South poles swapping positions.

It's a time marked by intense activity. It sees our star transition from peaceful to violent and is marked by a huge increase in the frequency of solar eruptions and massive solar flares – enormous clouds of fire that erupt from the solar corona.

Made up of charged particles, a CME can weigh of billions of tons and can attain a speed of up to 3,000km per second. It can head out in any direction, including towards the Earth. At maximum velocity, it would take a CME about half a day to cover the vast distance Earth-Sun distance.

"In the normal or quiet periods, the Sun emits two to three CMEs a day," says a leading scientist. "In 2026, it's anticipated them to be over ten daily."

Researching coronal mass ejections is one of the key research goals for the Indian maiden solar mission. One, because the ejections provide an opportunity to study the Sun at the centre of our solar system, and two, since events occurring on the Sun threaten infrastructure on our planet and in orbit.

Impacts on Earth and Orbital Systems

Coronal mass ejections rarely pose immediate danger to people, but they do affect our planet by causing magnetic disturbances that impact conditions in near space, where nearly 11,000 satellites, including many from India, orbit.

"The most spectacular manifestations of a CME include northern lights, being direct evidence that solar particles from our star journey toward our planet," the scientist clarifies.

"However, they may make all the electronics on a satellite fail, knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites."

Historical Solar Events

• The most powerful solar storm ever recorded occurred during the 1859 solar superstorm that disabled telegraph lines worldwide
• In 1989, sections of Canadian electrical network failed, leaving millions without power for nine hours
• In November 2015, solar storms disrupted air traffic control, leading to disruption across Scandinavia and various European air hubs
• Recently in 2022, a CME had led to 38 commercial satellites being lost

If we are able to see what happens in the solar atmosphere and detect a solar storm or a coronal mass ejection as it happens, measure its heat at origin and track its path, it can work as advanced warning to switch off power grids and spacecraft redirecting them out of harm's way.

The Mission's Special Capability

There are other space observatories watching the Sun, Aditya-L1 has an advantage compared to rivals when it comes to studying the solar atmosphere.

"Aditya-L1's coronagraph is the exact size enabling it to effectively simulate lunar coverage, completely blocking the Sun's photosphere permitting an uninterrupted view of nearly the entire of the corona around the clock, throughout the year, including during eclipses and occultations," notes the researcher.

In other words, this instrument acts like a synthetic eclipse, obscuring the Sun's bright surface allowing researchers continuously observe its faint outer corona – a feat natural eclipses provide only during specific moments.

Additionally, it's unique capable of examining eruptions in visible light, letting it determine a CME's temperature and thermal output – crucial data that show how strong of an eruption when traveling toward Earth.

Preparation for Peak Period

To prepare for next year's solar maximum, scientists collaborated to study information obtained from one of the largest CMEs recorded by the mission has recorded until now.

It originated in September 2024 at 00:30 GMT. The eruption's weight totaled billions of tons – for comparison that sank Titanic was 1.5 million tonnes.

Initially, its temperature reached extreme levels and the energy content comparable to millions of tons of TNT – relative to nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were 15 kilotons in scale each.

Even though the numbers make it sound massive, the scientist describes it as a "medium-sized" one.

The space rock that eliminated prehistoric life on our planet carried enormous energy and when the Sun's maximum activity cycle, we could see CMEs carrying power matching even more than that.

"In my view the CME we analyzed to have occurred when the Sun was in the normal activity phase. Now this sets the standard that we'll be using assessing what is in store when the maximum activity cycle arrives," he says.

"The insights from this will assist in developing protective measures to be adopted safeguarding spacecraft in orbit. They will also help achieving deeper knowledge of our space environment," he adds.